community leader at the Kerala Cultural Association of North America estimates that nearly 100,000 Malayalam-speaking Keralites from Kerala in South India live in the New York metropolitan area and Long Island. This number increases significantly each year as Malayali people sponsor family members to relocate to the US. In the city, Malayali live in all boroughs, though predominantly in eastern Queens, with Long Island's New Hyde Park, just beyond the Queens border, an important residential hub for the community. Many are medical professionals, with roughly 80% of Malayali women in New York working as nurses, according to one community member, and some communities forming near hospitals. Most Malayali in New York are Christian, congregating at churches like Williamsbridge's St. Thomas Syro Malabar and Manor Heights' Mar Gregorios Orthodox Church, and much of the community also unites annually for Onam, a harvest festival specific to the Kerala state celebrated in late August and early September.